Where to retire...

[Speeddmn]

So this month I am hitting my 16 years of Active Duty service in the US Air Force. So I want to start preparing where to retire. As I type this I'm sitting in an office with out AC in South Korea. A little background on myself, huge outdoor fan, hunting, fishing, camping, etc. I grew up all over the states, and been stationed all over the world. I ended high school in Opheim, MT in Valley County. As most of us know eastern MT is flat...really flat. Not a lot of trees or mountains to look at either. Love the hunting and fishing I do there and have done in the past.

When I leave South Korea I am headed back to Hill AFB in Utah. I also love this area but they lack whitetail deer and moose is a dream hunt (once in a lifetime) for the state. I would like to take the summer and drive around western MT and show my wife and kids the area. I feel as if this is where we will end up. I'm not much for a city life style, but I also dont want to dive an hour to buy eggs again.

For those of you currently living there, where would you move to if you had a budget of around 300k for a house and some land. I'd like 2500 ish sq foot, 4 bedroom 3 bath. more acres the better but I dont think anything under 2 would suit me. Idea's on buy verse build? I obvisouly have time to build if we start prior to my actual retirement. I'd love to be fully moved in by 1 Aug 2018.

FYI I have kept my MT residence and dont plan to give it up! Something to consider for myself is access to public lands for hunting and fishing, goos schools for the kids, and a decent enough community to find jobs. I'm an aircraft mechinic with some safety background, my wife is doing business management and human recesorces. So I think even if I had to open a business it wouldn't be to bad. Any and all suggestions would be great. I've scrubbed zillow and remax for listing to get an idea and find lots of places that would suit my needs. It's all the public access stuff I havent been up on for quite some time.

 

[captaincoot]

Can't answer quetion but THANKS for defending our freedom

 

[2rocky]

http://youtu.be/1W8hsVvyKt4

 

[LopeHunter]

I would suggest Colorado around Ft. Collins. Not too far from international airport but more affordable than Boulder and less urban than Denver. I live in Portland, OR, region and have a home in Phoenix, AZ, region but if was buying a 3rd home would most likely be around Ft. Collins or the area just south of Denver. Montana has even better hunting opportunities but gets a lot colder there and you are not as centrally located for hunting other states if you draw a tag.

Colorado offers a lot of hunting opportunity. If you like to hunt every year for decent bucks and bulls, you can do that as a resident. If you only are interested in 350 class bulls and 190 class bucks but want to hunt every year then Colorado is not for you and good luck finding that place in the West.

You would be a close drive to pronghorn country in Wyoming and could hunt there for decent pronghorn every year. If you are building points out West in several states and start to draw tags once you retire then you will be able to drive to almost any hunt you draw except hunts in Alaska.

Kansas has good whitetail hunting and that is an easy drive. If you buy a NM elk tag then that is not too bad a drive.

Face it, Montana has screwed up the tag system for NR so much that you can wait until all the other states post draw results then decide if you want to pick up what is basically an OTC tag now.

Thanks for your service!

 

[kiwi hunter]

new zealand,,like south canterbury
can hunt here 24/7 by 52 weeks of the year
we have red deer,sika,fallow,wapiti cross,rusa,sambar,hogs,wallaby,thar,chamois and its all free
can have a suppressor which are awesome

 

[Kiwi]

new zealand,,like south canterbury
can hunt here 24/7 by 52 weeks of the year
we have red deer,sika,fallow,wapiti cross,rusa,sambar,hogs,wallaby,thar,chamois and its all free
can have a suppressor which are awesome

Don't tell everyone Les.

 

[CILhunter]

One thing I know for certain: DO NOT retire to Illinois! I am looking to get out of here at the earliest opportunity. I had thought about Texas, but there is a depressing lack of public land access. Now I am leaning toward Wyoming. Colorado is a solid choice, but I don't like how the politics are trending there. Not sure I could get the wife to move to Montana with the winters.

Nice to think about, but I have a few more years here in the People's Republic of Illinois before I can realistically get out.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Deer hunting in Colorado is fast becoming an every other year thing. You can still get two elk tags every year though.

 

[twodot]

Choteau. You can work out of GF AFB if needed and it is a fantastic area.

 

[SFC B]

I thought CO would be great when I got stationed here 6 years ago. It hasn't disappointed me so far. Some weird stuff with the tag applications but nothing you can't live with. Big plus when you become a resident are RFW tags This year I have two of them. Weather is great (I am in the Springs) with tons of sun even when it is cold. Big bonus is a bunch of bases/posts for fed jobs (Peterson, Schriever, Carson and the Academy just in town).

 

[quackaddict]

new zealand,,like south canterbury
can hunt here 24/7 by 52 weeks of the year
we have red deer,sika,fallow,wapiti cross,rusa,sambar,hogs,wallaby,thar,chamois and its all free
can have a suppressor which are awesome

The duck hunting ain't too shabby either...

 

[BigRack]

Keep in mind that Wyoming doesn't have a State income tax so you can use the money you saved in taxes to buy out of state tags.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Any where in Colorado. Woofs et all the elk in Montana, the fishing sucks and the people are just rude.

 

[RobG]

Keep in mind that Wyoming doesn't have a State income tax so you can use the money you saved in taxes to offset their sales tax on your new truck.

Fixed your typo BR

If you want to do aircraft work the first thing that popped into my mind was a place like Cabin Creek and you can do the annuals for your neighbors. The lots have been for sale for some time so I'd start offering in the 50's http://www.cabincreeklanding.com/Price_List.html

Living around here ain't so bad if you get away from town.

 

[BigRack]

He probably should move to NE South Dakota. No income tax, 3% vehicle tax and cheap licenses. Buy clothes in MN and food in ND and pay no sales tax.

 

[Summitthunting]

Colorado is changing a lot, and not in a good way. I'd pick Cody, Wyoming. Real estate is high but outdoor opportunities are endless.

 

[jlmatthew]

I'd say Colorado 15 years ago, but not now. I'm dreaming of Montana or Wyoming!

And in if you're thinking Colorado for hunting, we have very short seasons and a Wildlife Commission that is actively trying to take tags away from residents, so its best to live somewhere else and come hunt here as a nonresident

 

[Speeddmn]

Everyone, thanks for the reply's. Kiwi Hunter, thanks for the heads up on that great idea, just think the cost of actually moving might be a bit more. I am from MT and plan to retire back there. Colorado isnt a bad place, but to many people in the state my wife and I do not want to be near anymore (long story). Wyoming is on the hit list and so is Idaho, but I feel MT would best suit my family and myself the best. Originally I was thinking Hamiliton, Lolo area. Now I'm leaning more toward surronding Helena or Great Falls area.

I know the winters can be harsh, but growing up in the east side of the state -60 with wind was very common. Least in the western part, trees and mountins can block/move some wind! I guess I was asking more where better/easier access to public grounds are. I can hunt plenty of BLM and tons of private property back around my home town. That and property values also are important. A 2000 sq foor house on 1 acre in North Valley Co is way cheaper than a 1900 sq foot house on .33 acre on the outskirts of Bozeman. Least this is what I'm seeing via the interwebs and for sale sites. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Having spent childhood in Great Falls, I can tell you it's pretty windy as well. If you need the more urban amenities of a built up area, Helena, Lewistown, or Red Lodge are my favorites. Fifty years of watching Bozeman area grow confirms your reluctance to retire there. The Hamilton-Lolo area is becoming Missoula suburbia, so you might consider Darby or Salmon, ID.

But if you seek more sparsely populated areas, I suggest places such as Alzada, Rapelje, Martinsdale, Harlowton, or more eastern Montana towns.